National Firms Continue Growth in Texas
While national firms continue to grow larger in Texas, eight of the 10 firms with the most lawyers in the state are Texas firms.
June 27, 2019 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
Considering the heated level of activity in the Texas law firm market, it should be no surprise that out-of-state firms grew in 2018 in the Lone Star State at the expense of homegrown firms.
In 2018, 11 of the 25 firms with the most lawyers in Texas were based outside of Texas. In 2017, only eight of the top 25 firms were transplants.
More than a third of the firms with the most lawyers in Texas in 2018, as reported in the Texas Top 100 chart, are not based in Texas and instead have offices in one or more Texas city.
Many of the firms that grew the most during 2018 in Texas are not Texas-based firms. Kirkland & Ellis, which added an office in Dallas to its Houston office, grew to 155 lawyers in Texas, up 44.9% from 107 in 2017; DLA Piper grew to 82 lawyers, up 39% from 59 in 2017; Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith increased its Texas lawyer count to 66, up 38% from 48 the year before; and Akerman grew by 49% to 58 lawyers compared with 39 the year before.
Two big national firms that are new to Texas captured solid positions among the first 25 on the Texas Top 100 chart because of mergers in 2018. Clark Hill merged with Strasburger & Price, and had 168 lawyers in Texas in 2018. Also, Foley & Lardner merged with Gardere Wynne Sewell, resulting in 138 lawyers in Texas and a spot among the 25 firms with the most lawyers in Texas.
Some large Texas firms also grew, including Thompson Coe Cousins & Irons, which came in at 206 lawyers in 2018, up 23% from 167 in 2017; McGinnis Lochridge, which grew to 69 lawyers in 2018, up 28% from 54 the year before; and Berry Appleman & Leiden expanded by 64 percent, growing to 59 Texas lawyers from 36 in 2017.
Big Tex firms continue to dominate the top of the ranking.
Vinson & Elkins had 405 lawyers in Texas in 2018 and tops the chart. Houston-based V&E overtake Norton Rose Fulbright, which had 393 lawyers in Texas and slipped from first place last year. Norton Rose Fulbright was created in 2013 in a merger between Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski and U.K. firm Norton Rose.
The 10 top spots in the 100-firm ranking were secured by the same firms as last year, with some shuffling. One caveat is that the 10th firm, Hunton Andrews Kurth, created in the 2018 merger between Hunton & Williams and Houston-based Andrews Kurth Kenyon, takes Andrews Kurth's spot on the chart.
The firms immediately following V&E and Norton Rose on the chart are Baker Botts, Haynes and Boone and Jackson Walker, which is the largest Texas-only firm.
While most firms either added Texas lawyers or didn't change their Texas head count much either way, a few firms slimmed their Texas ranks during 2018, including Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody, which had 34 lawyers in 2018 , down 35% from 52 the year before. Graves Dougherty lost a group of 10 lawyers in early 2018 to McGinnis Lochridge. McKool Smith declined to 64 lawyers in Texas in 2018, down 18% from 78 the year before.
The lawyer counts in Texas are full-time equivalent lawyer counts for 2018. Numbers for a few firms on the chart are estimates, because the lawyer counts were not immediately available.
Read More:
The Texas Top 100: Firms Moving Into Texas Market Grow Significantly in 2017
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